That belief echoes a past message President Paul Kagame shared with young people: “Whatever we are building, we want it to have a strong foundation. That foundation is you; the youth.”

Young people are the foundation of Rwanda’s future. Investing in them means investing in tomorrow’s leaders, workforce, innovators, entrepreneurs, and the custodians of our nation’s security and resilience.

This investment extends beyond education and employment to supporting those who have faced challenges to return to productive and dignified lives.

Rwanda’s rehabilitation programme provides such an opportunity, helping young people regain direction, develop resilience and acquire the skills and confidence they need to contribute positively to society.

Every young person who arrives at a rehabilitation centre carries a story that began before rehabilitation.
For some, it begins at home, where family conflict, limited parental guidance or difficult circumstances shape their choices. For others, peer pressure can gradually lead to alcohol or drug use. Some lose direction after leaving school or finding themselves without meaningful work or activities.

These experiences show that harmful behaviours rarely have a single cause. Family difficulties, negative peer influence, unemployment and economic hardship can gradually distance a young person from his/her family, education, and productive life.

That is why Rwanda sees rehabilitation as more than correcting behaviour. It gives trainees an opportunity to reflect on their experiences, regain direction, rebuild confidence, develop practical skills, restore relationships and prepare for a better life after rehabilitation.

Rwanda’s rehabilitation programme combines counselling and psychosocial support, health services, education, vocational training and values formation.

At Iwawa, Gitagata, Nyamagabe and Ngarama rehabilitation centres, trainees can acquire practical skills including carpentry, masonry, tailoring, welding, domestic electricity, culinary arts, automotive mechanics and agriculture.

Through counselling and behavioural-change sessions, trainees are supported to understand the consequences of their choices, develop positive values and consider the kind of life they want to live after rehabilitation.

The experience of the former trainee, referred as Mugabo for this story, shows what rehabilitation can mean and how investing in young lives can help restore a life that had lost direction.

Mugabo started drinking alcohol after being introduced to it by a friend. As his drinking increased, alcohol was no longer enough to feed his addiction, and he began using drugs.

When he could no longer afford them, he resorted to stealing to afford buying drugs. It was through this behaviour that Mugabo came to the attention of the police. He was later arrested and admitted to a rehabilitation centre.

There, he underwent counselling, behavioural-change sessions, values education and vocational training. The experience gave him time to reflect on his choices, understand their consequences and reconsider the direction his life was taking.

As he progressed through the programme, Mugabo began to see that his past did not have to determine his future. He started preparing for life beyond rehabilitation and thinking about how he could use the skills and values he had gained to build a different life.

After completing rehabilitation, he returned home determined to start again. He became a school teacher, got married, and started a family. He later continued his education and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Education, an achievement he is very proud of and for which he is grateful to the government for supporting him through rehabilitation.

Mugabo now supports his family, and his experience demonstrates the purpose and value of Rwanda’s rehabilitation.

His journey shows that rehabilitation is not only about helping young persons change their behaviour, but also about giving them the opportunity to rebuild their lives, realise their potential, and make a positive contribution to their families and communities. In this sense, rehabilitation is an investment in young people’s lives, their future, and their ability to contribute to society.

Returning home can bring challenges, including unemployment, strained family relationships, peer influence and exposure to circumstances associated with previous harmful behaviour.

That’s why reintegration is part of the rehabilitation process, helping graduates apply the skills they have gained, rebuild relationships and find a meaningful place in their communities.

The scale of the programme reflects this effort. In March 2025, rehabilitation centres graduated 6,442 trainees who were reintegrated into their families and communities with new skills, renewed confidence and determination to lead dignified lives.

Behind these figures are young minds returning home with different experiences, abilities and hopes for the future.

Rehabilitation can’t change what happened to a person in the past, but it can provide knowledge, skills and support needed to make positive choices, rebuild relationships and pursue a more productive and meaningful life.

Rehabilitation is ultimately an investment in people and in the possibility that a difficult past does not have to determine a person’s future.